Tuesday, September 30, 2014

You would think that since I'm not working that I would have more time to blog and not wait so long in between posts. Although I do have more down time I tend to want to do other things. I'm really really enjoying being home with the baby, so when he is awake I try and put my full attention on him. I'm soaking up this baby stage because I know it won't last long. And when he is sleeping or content on his play mat or swing I try and do things that need to be done around the house. My tv isn't on much during the day, I listen to music a lot and just enjoy the quiet. I never thought I would say that I actually enjoying cooking and cleaning, but I do so much more now that I'm not working. I can do things on my own time frame and not stress about it. I like finding new recipes to try, and I have found joy in the simple everyday things in life. Our afternoons are always busier and louder once Dane and Kevin get home with making dinner and Dane's daily reading assignments, and with getting everybody clean and ready for the next day. We do have a witching hour in the evenings where both kids seem to lose their minds. Ha Dane is usually wired and acting hyper and it is usually when the baby is tired and fussy, so sometimes the evenings can be a little crazy. Nothing that a little wine can't fix. HAHA But, we seem to have a little routine that works. So, anyway I forget to blog a lot of the time. Don't fret, I will continue to blog because I love having this look back on but it will probably continue to be about once a week.

Last week seemed to be a busier week for us. I was at Dane's school 3 times during the week. Dane had his boosterthon fun run, I attended my first PTO breakfast and meeting, and then volunteered to bring brownies and help with the set up of the teacher's first luncheon of the year. All was a success. I got to meet other parents who also help with the PTO, and find out more about what volunteering opportunities there are at Dane's school. I also attended the first session of a bible study that I joined at the Katy campus of my church with one of my sorority sisters. Dane had baseball practice during the week and lego club on Friday, and a game on Saturday. I went to a friend's house on Sunday evening for a wreath making get together. I even managed to make a huge dent in my Christmas shopping! I know, it's September but I like to shop early so I can enjoy the holidays. It also helps with the budget when it's spread out. Busy week!

Let's get to it. Picture overload warning... as always

We actually had a couple of cool days. I had not known we were getting a cool front, so when Jace and I went outside to get Dane on the bus then go on our morning walk I was pleasantly surprised with how cool it was outside. I thought it felt great, but it was a little too cool for J man so we had to go find a little jacket and put him some pants on before we did anything else. After our walk I decided that it was just way too pretty outside and the temperatures were too good to stay inside, so we packed up and went and piddled for a couple hours. You have to take advantage of the few fallish days we get here in Texas.

I found this little jacket on clearance while I was pregnant. It's super cute and light weight so perfect for days that are in the 60's. He fell asleep on our walk, and somehow I managed to get him out of the stroller and into his papasan chair without him waking up. That never happens.

Boosterthon:

Dane had been looking forward to doing his fun run for a few weeks. He was so excited, he even practiced running laps when we had gone to the park. He was determined to get the most laps. His fun run was at 8:30, so instead of putting him on the bus I decided I would just take him to school to give me more time to find close parking and I would just hang out until it was time for his fun run to start. I got him up at normal time and we went to chick fila for a special fun run breakfast before going to his school. He just thought that was the coolest thing ever. He did awesome during the run. There was time left after he had ran the max of 35 laps, so he just continued on and ran a total of 42 laps!! He was so proud, and every time he would loop around to where I was he would scream in his excited voice what lap he was on. 29!! 37!! 41!! Ha This is the school's biggest fundraiser for the year. They don't do the catelog fundraisers, which I am very thankful for so they put a lot of pressure on the kids to get as many pledges as they can. Dane is thankful for the pledges he got, and of course for the prizes that came along with it. :) It was a fun morning watching him in the fun run. He had a huge smile the entire time he was running, he had a blast. He tried convincing me to take him home afterwards but, it's too early in the year for that!! :)

He only walked when he had to do the cool down laps. He had so much energy, so I'm sure his teacher appreciated how hard he ran that hour.

smiley faces were given after all their laps were marked

Ending the evening with cold beverages

love this little guy

Dane's class had the most pledges for the fun run out of the entire school! So, they won a week of fun. They got to have extra minutes at recess one day, lunch with the boosterthon team, extra super stars to buy rewards, and a crazy hair day. Dane's hair was definitely crazy! He told me that he was going to trick people and tell them it was rock star day. Ha

His hair is so long, he needs a haircut more than ever.

My cuties

I had to go through Jace's clothes again. He is growing so fast. 3 month clothes are getting snug, so we had to sort through those and get out the 3-6 month clothes to fill his drawers. He was full of smiles while chillin in his bean bag watching me go through his dresser. Most of his clothes are all hand me downs from Dane's baby clothes. But, once it gets cold outside we will have to buy him some warm clothes. Dane and Jace are opposite seasons with their ages, so Dane's baby winter clothes will fit Jace during the summer. No bueno. I'm glad I didn't buy much for Jace because he grows out of everything very quickly, and the fact that he spits up on every outfit he owns makes me not care that he doesn't have much that is new. He doesn't seem to care. Ha

And now Jace has gotten where he can reach for the toys that hang from his playmat and catch them and pull them to his mouth. He finally has some control over his hands, and he will bat at them and catch them. It's so cute to see him play.

Dane being Dane... silly

I usually go for a walk around the neighborhood right after Dane gets on the bus since it's not too hot, and then we usually go right before Dane gets home or after dinner. It's good to get fresh air and get out of the house, and it's really peaceful. Jace loves it, and is always so content. One of my days that we walked after dinner Dane wanted to walk too. So, he walked on the sidewalk and talked my ear off around the neighborhood. Ha He told me all about his day and details about movies, and all the things he was going to build with his legos. He walked on the side walk and kept telling me how dangerous I was being for walking in the street. The sidewalk is really bumpy, and lots and lots of cars park on their driveways where they are blocking the sidewalk, so it's just easier to walk on the street.

Dane has to do what's called whacky reading everyday for 20 minutes. The teacher gave us a list of whacky ways to read, and Dane has to pick one everyday and the parents have to sign off that they read for the entire 20 minutes and which way they did it. It's anything from reading under a blanket with a flashlight, taking a drink after every page, reading to a picture, read under the bed etc etc. It's suppose to make it fun I guess. Usually he reads while I cook dinner and if he doesn't hear the timer go off after 20 minutes I just continue to let him read. And so far he hasn't cared when he has read way over 2o minutes. He likes reading so this hasn't been an issue yet. One day he read for 40 minutes and only stopped because I told him that it was time for dinner. He reads out loud and if he picks a way that isn't near the kitchen we set up the baby monitor and I listen to him while I cook.

Friday after school Dane went to lego club at the library again. He loves it. It's funny because he has thousands of legos at our house, but going and playing with legos at the library with other lego obsessed kids is a lot of fun for him.

After lego club we went to a place that had batting cages so Dane could do some batting practice before his game on Saturday. This helped him tremendously, and really built up his confidence! We plan on taking him every week before his game until he gets good with the timing of hitting the ball.

Saturday we had Dane's 3rd game, and this was his best game yet! He got his first hit, and we were so excited!! He was shocked that he hit the ball so everyone had to yell at him to run to first base. He was on cloud 9 that he made contact. He got to play catcher and pitcher again. These seem to be the positions that he is best at and enjoys the most.

Evidently I've been holding out on giving him the best fruit snack he's ever tasted. He got gushers from the mom that brought snacks and he couldn't believe how good they were. Kept asking me if I would buy us some.

After the game we rushed home to watch the Aggies play. We got home just in time for kick off. Man, what a doozie. Aggies won, but geez it was a painful game to watch. They didn't look too hot the first 3 quarters, and I had lost hope in them winning but they pulled it out somehow. I think maybe it was because they had their 2 lucky charms cheering them on.